Apparatus for making sheet metal



A ril 1, 1941. R. J. WEAN arm. 2,235,962

APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHEET METAL Filed June 1, 1938 lNV ENTOR$ Ra y mondJ. We an 8' Donald A-MCAFH'IUI' Patented Apr. 1, 1941 2,236,962APPARATUS FOR. MAKING SHEET METAL Raymond J. Wean and Donald A.McAi-thur,

Warren, Ohio, assignors to The Wean Engineering 00. Inc., Warren, Ohio,a corporation of Ohio Application June 1, 1938, Serial No. 211,215

1 Claim.

This invention relates to apparatus employed in the manufacture of sheetmetal and, in particular, to the control of the abrasive materialutilized to prepare hot rolled steel strip for reduc-' I tion to finalgauge by cold rolling.

In Wean Patent No. 2,120,318, there is disclosed apparatus for thetreatment'of hot rolled strip including abrasive throwing mechanisms forcleaning the strip. It frequently becomes necessary to stop the striptravelling through this apparatus, for various purposes. Unless theabrasive blast is shut ofl when the strip is stopped, excessive abrasionof the latter will result. It has been the practice heretofore tocontrol the abrasive blast manually by shutting off the supply ofabrasive when strip is stopped. This arrangement is objectionablebecause it involves the human. element and it sometimes happens that thesupply of abrasive is not cut oli when it should be.

We have invented an automatic control for the supply of abrasive to thethrowing mechanisms such that the supply of abrasive is positivelyterminated whenever the movement of the strip through the severalmachines of the processing line is interrupted, even if onlymomentarily. In accordance with the invention, we provide an'electro-pneuxnatic control system for a valve in the abrasive supplyline extending to the centrif- 'ugal abrasive throwing mechanisms. Thissystem is actuated by means responsive to the movement of the stripthrough the processing line, for example a centrifugal switch actuatedby one of the sets of pinch rolls used to forward the strip through theline- Our invention is described in greater detail hereinafter, withreference to the drawing illustrating diagrammatically a preferredarrange- .ment of the apparatus.

matic view showing only the essential elements of the invention, withparts in section.

While our invention is applicable generallyto various typesof abradingapparatus, it is intended particularly for use in connection with stripcleaning equipment of the type incorporating centrifugalabrasive-throwing wheels or impellers W such as that shown in PeikPatent 1,953,566. This equipment may-be embodied in the form showngenerally in our Patent 2,120,318 above mentioned. As there-shown, theapparatus includes motor-driven pinch rolls for drawing the stripthrough a cabinet in which the centrifugal wheels are iournaled. Afterbeing discharged by the wheels, the abrasive is collected in a hopper inthe bottom of the cabinet and returned by suitable means to a storagehop'per l0 from which it flows through a duct' H to the wheels forrepeated discharge against the strip. The duct II has a shut-off valvel2 therein. The traction pinchrolls are indicated at l3.

We provide means for closing the valve in the abrasive supply duct onstoppage of the strip passing through the cabinet, for any reason. Thisprevents excessive abrasion of a portion of the strip in case it shouldbe necessary to stop the movement of the latter at any time, forexample, when stitching together the ends of successive strip lengths,or shearing them apart.

To accomplish this result, we employ a cylinder l8 having a piston l9therein adapted to be operated by fluid under pressure contained in asuitable source 2|Iand controlled by a valve 2|. The valve 2| isoperated electromagnetically, an operating winding being shown at 22. Aswitch 23 is effective to close an energizing circuit for the winding 22to operate the valve 2|. When so operated, fluid under pressure isadmitted to the right-hand end of the cylinder l8, whereas, the

other end is vented to the atmosphere. The resulting movement of thepiston is effective through suitable mechanical connections, such aspiston rod 24, link 25 and crank 26, to operate the valve |2 to closedposition to shut off the supply of abrasive to the centrifugalimpellers. The reverse movement occurs on the opening of switch Theswitch 23 may be operated in any convenient manner, in accordance withthe movement of a strip through the cleaning apparatus, so long as thearrangement is such that the switch 28 will remain open while the stripcontinues to move but will be closedin the event of stoppage thereof.The switch 23 is preferably a centrifugal switch mounted on the pinchrolls l3, and driven thereby, which remains open so long as the pinchrolls operate although other types of switches operating in accordancewith movement of the strip may be employed as well. Since the pinchrolls l3 furnish the traction for advancing the strip, their speed isproportional to the rate of feeding and furnishes an index as to thecontinuance of strip movement.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that, as long as the strip ismoving, 1. e., so long as the pinch rolls are being driven, the switch23 reposition by gravity.

Itwill be'readily appreciated that the inven tion is characterized bynumerous advantages over the prior practice involving hand control ofthe abrasive supply. By means of the invention, the supply of abrasivematerial is cut oil immediately on stoppage of the strip being processedand is resumed as soon as the strip starts to move again. In this way,uniform treatmentot the entire length of strip is assured withoutvariations which might otherwise result from continu-- ation of thesupply of abrasiveafter stoppage of the strip or, delay in restartingthe abrasive supply after the strip is started again.

Although we have illustrated and described but a preferred embodiment ofthe invention, it will Abrading apparatus comprising" means for normallymoving material to be abraded through the apparatus in a continuousmanner, means for directing an abrasive blast onto the moving material,a valve controlling the supply of abrasive material to said.blast-directing means, means actuated by fluid-pressure for operatingthe valve, electrical means controlling the fluid pressure-actuatedmeans, said electrical means including means actuated by the means formoving the material and 'efiective on stoppa e of the material-movingmeans to cause operation of the fluid-pressure actuated means, wherebysaid valve is actuated to interrupt the supply of abrasive be understoodthat many changes therein may be 5 material to said blast-directingmeans.

made within the terms of the following claim.

We claim:

RAYMOND J. WEAN. DONALD A. MCARTHUR.

